Plant a tree ... and batter up! (plus a few more notable items)

Vince Guaraldi's first known gig, on my timeline, was at San Francisco's Cable Car Village, as part of saxman Chuck Travis' Quartet. The booking began on April 12, 1951, and ran for an unknown number of days, or weeks.

That makes this year — 2026 — the diamond anniversary of the world's initial exposure to Dr. Funk's popular and immediately recognizable music.

Bearing that in mind, the folks at Lee Mendelson Film Productions are getting the year off to a roaring start, with the debut of full scores to 1976's It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown and 1966's Charlie Brown's All Stars! — the 15th and second Peanuts TV specials, respectively — packaged together on a single release.

I must confess, though, the moment is bittersweet. My obvious delight in this album's arrival is compromised by the knowledge that Arbor Day was the last Peanuts score Guaraldi completed, before his untimely death (about which, a bit more below). 

The album features 24 tracks: 17 from Arbor Day, including two bonus alternate tracks; followed by the music from Charlie Brown’s All Stars!, mixed into seven tracks. Both scores include "Rain, Rain, Go Away,” one of Guaraldi's most soulful compositions. Their book-ended presence here allows listeners to see how Dr. Funk's approach to the tune evolved during the intervening decade.

The version for Arbor Day was one of the final songs Guaraldi recorded. He and his combo laid it down on the afternoon of February 6, 1976, at San Francisco's Wally Heider Studio. That same evening, he unexpectedly passed away while performing at Butterfield’s, in Menlo Park. Guaraldi was only 47. 

All Stars! features a sextet: Guaraldi is joined by John Coppola and Frank Snow, trumpet; Eddie Duran, guitar; Eugene “Puzzy” Firth, bass; and Lee Charlton, drums. Guaraldi returned to his trio roots for Arbor Day, performing alongside Seward McCain, bass; and Jim Zimmerman, drums.

(Note: The tracks for All Stars! were pulled from a 35mm negative soundtrack tape, because the original studio session tapes haven't yet been found.)  

The 34-minute album will be available March 20, on a 12-inch 33 RPM black or "Forest Green" BioVinyl LP in a Gatefold Jacket, and on CD and digitally.

They can be preordered here.

Physical releases feature liner notes by album producers Sean and Jason Mendelson; and an historical essay by Mine Own Self. The liner notes also feature rare photographs and images from the specials.

Lee Mendelson Film Productions also is partnering with the Arbor Day Foundation: For every physical copy of this album purchased in 2026, LMFP will plant one tree in a forest of need, with a minimum annual support of 12,000 trees. 

Read the full LMFP press release here, where you can hear brief samples from five tracks.

Three full tracks can be streamed as digital singles:

Young Man's Fancy

Sprinkle Your Bird

Rain, Rain, Go Away (Gentle Rain)

Track Listing:

It’s Arbor Day, Charlie Brown 

1. Rerun’s Lament

2. Rerun’s Lament (Reprise)

3. Ships Sailinto Arbor

4. Laughter in the Library

5. Flatten Patten (Baseball Theme)

6. Young Man's Fancy

7. Jay Sterling Morton Jazz

8. We're the Visiting Team

9. Seeds for Thought (Joe Cool)

10. Don't Forget the Shovel

11. Sprinkle Your Bird

12. Snoopy at Bat

13. Lucy's Home Run

14. Rain, Rain, Go Away (Rain, Gentle Rain)

15. Happy Arbor Day, Charlie Brown

16. Jay Sterling Morton Jazz (Bonus Alternate Take)

17. Happy Arbor Day, Charlie Brown (Bonus Alternate Take)

Charlie Brown’s All Stars!

18. Charlie's Run

19. Charlie Brown's All Stars!

20. Baseball Theme (Medley)

21. Oh, Good Grief!

22. Surfin' Snoopy (Air Music)

23. Pebble Beach

24. Rain, Rain, Go Away

But wait ... that's not all!

On April 18, participating Record Store Day brick-and-mortar outlets will feature a special version of these scores, on two discs in a single package: a 10-inch "Clear Baseball" 45 RPM LP of It’s Arbor Day, Charlie Brown, and a 12-inch, die-cut glove-shaped 45 RPM LP of Charlie Brown’s All Stars! The first disc will feature all but the two bonus tracks from Arbor Day, and the second disc will feature the full score from All Stars! 

The LMFP press release for this special item can be read here.

The RSD exclusive will be available solely at participating Record Store Day stores, in limited quantities; you'll need to visit a store in person, to buy a copy. The RSD Store Finder page can be found here, or you can contact your local brick-and-mortar shop to see if they're participating, and expecting copies.

Better get in line early!

********

Not to be outdone, Craft Recordings has just announced a new edition of 1965's From All Sides, the second of three album collaborations between Guaraldi and guitarist Bola Sete. The set list features eight tunes delivered in a cool bossa nova style; highlights include "The Girl from Ipanema," "A Taste of Honey," a sassy Guaraldi original titled "Ballad of Pancho Villa," and "Menino Pequeno da Bateria." Listeners will immediately recognize the latter is an early incarnation of "My Little Drum" ("Little Drummer Boy"), soon to find its way into the soundtrack for A Charlie Brown Christmas.

This new edition of the album is released as part of the Original Jazz Classics Series, on 180-gram vinyl pressed at RTI, with all-analog mastering by Kevin Gray, from the original stereo tapes (AAA) at Cohearent Audio, and a Stoughton Tip-On Jacket.

It will be available on both vinyl and as high-res digital, released on February 27. (No CD version.)

********

To add more fun to this year's 75th anniversary celebration of Guaraldi's music, check out this playlist of Vince Guaraldi Peanuts tracks, with occasional commentary by Sean Mendelson, originally created for a Record Store Day listening party in October 2025, and now avaialble on YouTube. It's a nice selection of tracks, pulled from the albums released thus far.

Wheels within wheels!

This 75th Peanuts anniversary year gets better and better!

On top of which, this also marks the 50th anniversary of You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown, which won an Emmy Award after its debut back on October 28, 1975. It was the 14th Peanuts special to feature a Guaraldi score.

The special's story, inspired by Schulz's son Craig's then-interest in motocross, finds Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty competing in a charity motocross race, trying to overcome the challenges of crashes, mud and the antics of a strangely familiar Masked Marvel.

By way of celebrating that double-anniversary Lee Mendelson Film Productions has announced that Guaraldi's complete soundtrack will be released on July 11, 2025.

The album features the 14 tracks that make up Guaraldi's full score, along with a bonus track of unused cues originally intended for the special's beginning (but were left behind when something else was inserted instead).

But — as the saying goes — that's not all, folks!

The album also includes four tracks of music that Guaraldi composed, and his trio performed, for Bicycles Are Beautiful, a now quite obscure 1974 non-Peanuts film — also produced by Lee Mendelson — that promoted bicycle riding and safety.

The performers on Good Sport are Guaraldi (piano, electric piano, clavinet, ARP String Ensemble, and Rhythm Ace Drum Machine), Seward McCain (bass) and Mark Rosengarden (drums and guiro). The Bicycles are Beautiful tracks feature Guaraldi (electric keyboard), McCain (bass) and Glenn Cronkhite (drums). 

The album was produced by Sean and Jason Mendelson; mixed at WonderWorld Studio by Grammy and Emmy Award-winning mixing engineer Clark Germain, and restored and re-mastered by Vinson Hudson (who has mastered all the LMFP releases). All tracks have been mastered from the original session tapes.

The soundtrack will be available on CD, vinyl and digitally, and can be pre-ordered from Amazon and other sources now.

The vinyl version is particularly special. The LP is a Zoetrope album: a picture disc with animated scenes from the cartoon, which come to life as the record spins. (You may need special lighting for best results; the album includes a QR code that'll take you to instructions for viewing the Zoetrope effect.) It's totally cool.

Initially only a Zoetrope vinyl was announced, but later LMFP added a plain black vinyl option as well.  However, it will not be available until September 12.

The physical albums feature rare photographs; track-by-track analysis by album producer Sean Mendelson; notes from album producer Jason Mendelson; an essay giving historical context by my own self; and a short essay by Craig Schulz, who discusses the special's inspiration.

Additional information:

• The full You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown press release

• The Lee Mendelson Film Productions webpage for the album

• Short preview samples for several tracks on Soundcloud

• The complete "Motocross" track on YouTube

The track list:

You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown

1. Motocross

2. Peppermint Patty

3. You’re a Good Sport, Charlie Brown (Centercourt)

4. Fanfare / Fanfare (Alternate Take) / Hospital Scene / Hospital Scene (Bonus)

5. Bass Blues

6. Linus and Lucy

7. Motocross (Reprise)

8. You’re a Good Sport, Charlie Brown (Unused Opening Cues)

9. The Great Pumpkin Waltz

10. Motocross (2nd Reprise)

11. Motocross (3rd Reprise)

12. Motocross (4th Reprise)

13. Motocross (5th Reprise Extended with Additional Piano)

14. Lunch Theme / Motocross (6th Reprise)

15. You’re a Good Sport, Charlie Brown (Reprise)

Bicycles are Beautiful

16. Bicycles are Beautiful (Reprise)

17. Bicycle Ballad (Medley)

18. Bicycle Bounce (and Reprise)

19. Bicycle Wizard (and Reprise)

I know, I know ... July is too far away, right?

Anticipation always makes the eventual purchase that much more exciting!

As for what might be next ... keep watching this blog!

A couple of terrific reunions

Two new YouTube goodies absolutely deserve your attention.

The first is the most recent episode of Heath Holland’s Cereal at Midnight podcast, an ongoing program that he cheerfully describes as “the culmination of an entire lifetime of nerdy pursuits.”

 

That’s a fair descriptor of many episodes, but I wouldn’t call this one nerdy. 

 

With an assist from Jason and Sean Mendelson, and timed to the upcoming release of the soundtrack for It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown, Heath gathered three veteran jazzmen — drummers Mike Clark (perhaps best known for working with Herbie Hancock) and Eliot Zigmund (famously with Bill Evans), and bassist Seward McCain (Mose Alison, Cleo Lane and others) — for a group Zoom session, to discuss their long-ago stints as members of Vince Guaraldi’s various combos.

 

The hour-long result is a wealth of reminiscences, anecdotes and some observations about jazz itself. Aside from their times with Guaraldi, topics include the respective jazz scenes in New York and San Francisco — and the often notorious divide between East and West Coast jazz — and how exposure to classical music (!) influenced their careers.

 

It's also fun to see how these three guys genuinely enjoy the camaraderie. Goodness, Seward and Eliot hadn’t seen or spoken to each other in decades.

 

I don’t want to spoil the viewing experience, but — as I furiously jotted notes — a few nuggets are worth mentioning.

 

Seward McCain and Vince Guaraldi at Butterfield's circa 1974-76

When each was asked what it was like, to play on a project that would be viewed on television by millions of folks, Seward’s response was quite philosophical. Unlike playing in front of live crowds, he began, even large ones, “You get no feedback, playing the music for a Charlie Brown special; you just play and leave. It’s still a bit of an unreality to me, the huge number of people that heard this music.”

Mike’s comment is almost unbelievable, because he didn’t realize he was making music for a television special: “[Vince] would call and say we’d be in the studio that day, no clue what we’d be playing. I don’t recall him ever saying anything about Charlie Brown. He’d just say, Okay, give me a groove like this, or give me 28 seconds of this, and I had no idea what it was for. He’d play like Wynton Kelly, and we’d just swing all night. And then this stuff aired on TV for years, before I even knew I was on it!”

 

Eliot credits his time in Vince’s trio with getting him the gig with Bill Evans; Mike recalls being recommended to Guaraldi by saxophonist Vince Denham, and fondly recalls the “great jams” at San Francisco’s Pierce Street Annex. All three men still perform; Eliot, soon to turn 80, wittily observes that “Drummers need to stay in good shape. I don’t dig carrying the drums, but I love playing them.”

 

And here’s something I never knew before: Mike mentions playing classical music with Vince at San Francisco’s Glide Memorial Church. (It’s worth noting that chanteuse Faith Winthrop, who was backed by Guaraldi’s early hungry i trio, founded that church’s community gospel group.)

 

Seriously, Mike? When? When?!?

 

All three still remember Vince fondly. 

 

“Vince was fun to be around,” Eliot says, wistfully, “and he loved to swing.”

 

“Vince played with rhythm, and he was in the groove,” Seward adds. “His notes were a lot of fun. Vince laid it down.”

 

“He had a dirty beat,” Mike concurs. “He could play New York style. And he could play two-handed boogie-woogie like nobody else.”

 

Referencing the fact that Guaraldi can be heard saying “Cue 1!” at the top of the first track on the Easter Beagle album, Mike adds, “As soon as I heard his voice, it hit me in the heart, and made me think how much I loved that guy.”

 

Amen to that.

 

********

 

The aforementioned album concludes with a truly special bonus track, recorded in 2021 at the same San Francisco studio where this soundtrack was laid down half a century ago: a brand-new “Woodstock Medley” — blending “Woodstock’s Wake-Up,” “Little Birdie,” “Woodstock’s Dream” and “Thanksgiving Theme” — by the trio of Seward, Mike and pianist David Benoit. It’s a fabulous performance, running just shy of 7 minutes.

 

I’ve known, pretty much since the medley was laid down, that Sean and Jason also filmed it ... and I’ve yearned, for almost four years, to see that footage.

 

Well, now everybody can watch it, in Sean’s marvelous music video, which he co-produced with Jason, and co-edited with Palmer Mendelson. The film is a captivating document of the studio performance, interspersed with brief “talking head” commentaries by the three musicians.

The nicest, heart-tugging touch: a final shot of Lee Mendelson, wielding a clapboard, while standing in front of Peanuts memorabilia that includes an impressively huge stuffed Snoopy.

Honesty, guys; clap yourselves on the back. This is a treasure! 

Heart and soul!

Valentine's Day will come early next year.

January 17 will see the first-ever release of Vince Guaraldi's soundtrack to Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown.

This soundtrack debut will be one of the first highlights during what promises to be an exciting 75th anniversary year of the Peanuts comic strip, which debuted October 2, 1950. It'll also mark the 50th anniversary of this TV special, which debuted on January 28, 1975.

The album will be available in the usual formats: LP, CD and digital download. LP collectors will have three options, starting with the traditional black vinyl, available at Amazon and the usual mainstream outlets. As always, potential future albums of Guaraldi's Peanuts scores will depend on sales of each new release ... so buy one for yourself, and a second as a gift for a friend!

(Shop locally, if possible. Support your brick-and-mortar retailer!)

Additionally, a "Puppy Love Pink" BioVinyl variant will be available as a Barnes & Noble exclusive:

And a limited-edition "Heartburn Red" BioVinyl variant will be available as a Record Store Day exclusive, on April 12, 2025:

All options feature detailed liner notes by my humble self, and producers Sean and Jason Mendelson. 

The album's Lee Mendelson Film Productions web page can be viewed here, which includes ordering links and four sample tracks. The full LMFP press release is here.

(Bear in mind that the Record Store Day page doesn't list all participating outlets, so it'll be wise to check with your local shop.)

As had become tradition by the time this 13th Peanuts TV special went into production, Guaraldi composed all the music, which was performed by his trio, under the supervision of John Scott Trotter. Guaraldi handled all the keyboard elements, on piano, Fender Rhodes and ARP String Ensemble synthesizer; he also added occasional soft guitar licks. Seward McCain played bass, and Vince Lateano handled the drum work.

Guaraldi took a different direction with this special’s score, and made a point of not using most of his familiar Peanuts cues, such as “Peppermint Patty,” “Red Baron” and “Blue Charlie Brown.” Although “Linus and Lucy” briefly surfaces twice, the arrangements are so novel, that casual listeners could be excused for thinking they’re entirely different melodies. This approach was intentional, because Guaraldi's score is a “tone poem tapestry,” designed to reinforce the melancholy atmosphere of various love’s labors lost. That’s particularly true of quietly thoughtful tracks such as “Never Again,” “There’s Been a Change,” “Charlie Brown’s Wake-up” and “Jennie L.” (Although no Peanuts character ever had the latter name, the tune must be a tribute to Vince's grandmother, Jenny L. Marcellino. What better time to do this, than in a love-themed Valentine's show?)

The album's 30 tracks feature the show's 22 score cues, followed by seven alternate takes and bonus mixes. The final track, "Last Call for Love," is a true bonus: When the recording session concluded, the trio jammed on a bluesy 6-minute piece, which features a truly terrific solo from McCain. 

Score tracks:

1. Heartburn Waltz

2. Heartburn Waltz (Reprise)

3. Linus and Lucy

4. Valentine Interlude #1 / Heartburn Waltz (2nd Reprise)

5. Piano Sonata No. 20 in G Major, Op. 49 No. 2 - 1. Allegro ma non troppo, by Ludwig van Beethoven

6. Heartburn Waltz (3rd Reprise)

7. Linus and Lucy (Reprise)

8. Paw Pet Overture

9. Freddie's Mood (Nocturne in E Flat Major, Op. 9, No. 2 by Frederic Chopin)

10. Heartburn Waltz (4th Reprise)

11 Never Again

12 Music Box Dance (Minuet in G Major, BWV Anh. 116, by Johann Sebastian Bach)

13. Woodstock's Mambo

14. Heartburn Waltz (5th Reprise)

15. Jennie L.

16. Heartburn Waltz (6th Reprise)

17. Valentine Interlude #2 / Heartburn Waltz (7th Reprise)

18. There's Been a Change

19. Woodstock's Revenge

20. Charlie Brown's Wake-Up

21. Heartburn Waltz (Reprise)

22. Freddie's Mood (Show Version)

Bonus tracks:

23. Heartburn Waltz (Bonus Mix)

24. Jennie L. (Alternate Take)

25. Heartburn Waltz (Alternate Take)

26. Woodstock's Mambo (Bonus Mix)

27. Heartburn Waltz (Reprise) (Bonus Mix)

28. There's Been a Change (Alternate Take)

29. Heartburn Waltz (5th Reprise) (Bonus Mix)

30. Last Call for Love

The folks at Lee Mendelson Film Productions will get the New Year off to a terrific start!

This Election features a different McCain!

Heath Holland, host of the pop-culture podcast Cereal at Midnight, has been delivering marvelously passionate shows about Lee Mendelson Film Productions’ recent, never-been-seen-before releases of Guaraldi’s scores for the vintage Peanuts TV specials, always with the equally enthusiastic participation of Sean and Jason Mendelson.

Check out the previous shows devoted to A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown (which also earned a second show).

 

Holland’s just-posted coverage of You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown finds the aforementioned individuals similarly excited — and excitable — but it’s also extra-special for an additional reason. Bassist Seward McCain, a former Guaraldi sideman, also participates in this super-sized episode; he’s on camera for most of the first half-hour. His memories, anecdotes and commentary are wonderful.

 

I don’t want to spoil the fun to be had while watching the entire show, but I couldn’t help extracting some of Seward’s choice remarks.

 

In his voice, then:

 

It was interesting to hear these [album] cuts, because it reminded me of how Vince worked. We would show up at the studio — usually a two-day session — and spend all day recording, from late morning to late hours at night. Vince was very purposeful; he knew what order he wanted to record everything. He didn’t want to write things out and make it sound mechanical; he liked it loose ... to play like we did on trio gigs.

 

Vince would bring in themes and ideas; he’d already been talking with John Scott Trotter or Lee [Mendelson], and he had a real plan. He’d bring in a storyboard on paper, and he knew the timings of everything; he was very well prepared every time. It could be improvised; he’d say, “Okay, we’ve got a cue here that’s about a minute and a half” or “This one is 17 seconds.” Sometimes Vince would say, “I dunno ... we need some mood music,” and he’d just start playing something! Of course, some of it was themes from other shows, and we’d do a new version of, say, “Linus and Lucy.”

[The music on the album] sounds fresher to me, because you don’t hear it in the show so much, because it’s designed to be a background; this way you can just listen to them. I’ve never had these tracks this way, and it’s so much fun.

 

I wonder where the time has gone, because I feel like the same person, particularly when I listen to this record. I just turned 80, but I have no sense of it (other than a doctor visit or two). This record pulls me back into the studio, with those players. They’re good, strong memories. You hear Vince’s voice in the studio. You hear him count it off, or say something, and that really makes you feel like you’re listening to tracks, and not a prepared album. That’s pretty fun.

 

I’d probably still be in the band, if Vince were still alive.

 

Like, wow.

 

I’d kill to be able to go back in time, and include that final line in my book.

 

********

 

On a related note...

 

As I explain in my liner notes — and in an amusing example of history repeating itself — much the way It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown began life as It Is a Short Summer, Charlie Brown, this special originally was to be called You’re Elected, Charlie Brown ... until the very last second. Wiser heads pointed out that a) Charlie Brown never wins anything; and b) Linus is the person campaigning, not good ol’ Chuck. Last-minute adjustments were made in such haste that the chalkboard title, as this special begins, has an afterthought “Not” inserted with a caret, and — listen carefully — the kid chorus still sings “You’re Elected, Charlie Brown.”

How “last minute” was this change made? Late enough to prevent being able to modify this promotional ad, which ran in TV Guide on October 28, 1972! 

Summer comes early this year!

Big news, gang.

Lee Mendelson Film Productions has made good on its promise to deliver another of Vince Guaraldi's iconic Peanuts soundtracks.

Their announcement went live earlier today:

Available for the first time ever!

Vince Guaraldi’s complete soundtrack for 1969's It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown

Limited release in celebration of the special's 55th anniversary

Available exclusively on "Camp Green" Vinyl (12-inch, 45 RPM) 

for Record Store Day, April 20th

    “This entire score is can’t-be-played-often-enough ear candy. It’s as fresh and vibrant today — and as swinging — as when it was laid down 55 years ago: yet another captivating display of Guaraldi’s compositional genius and keyboard wizardry.

    Summer never sounded so sweet.”

— From the liner notes by Derrick Bang, Author, Vince Guaraldi at the Piano

Lee Mendelson Film Productions (LMFP) is thrilled to announce the release of Vince Guaraldi's soundtrack to It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown, the sixth animated Peanuts special, from writer/creator Charles Schulz, director Bill Melendez and producers Melendez and Lee Mendelson. The special originally aired on CBS-TV on September 27, 1969, and currently can be streamed on Apple TV+.

 

The album includes the original recordings that comprise the special's song cues, plus six bonus and alternative tracks that never have been released or heard before.

Track list:

A1. CHARLIE BROWN THEME

A2. LINUS AND LUCY

A3. IT WAS A SHORT SUMMER, CHARLIE BROWN

A4. OH, GOOD GRIEF!

A5. YOU’RE IN LOVE, CHARLIE BROWN

A6. SCHROEDER

A7. BUS BLUES / BUS BLUES (REPRISE)

A8. IT WAS A SHORT SUMMER, CHARLIE BROWN (REPRISE)

A9. FRIEDA (WITH THE NATURALLY CURLY HAIR)

A10. OH, GOOD GRIEF! (REPRISE)

A11. COME AND GET IT / HASH / HASH WITH HORN / AM BREAK / TAH DAH 

A12. BON VOYAGE

A13. PEPPERMINT PATTY

A14. LOVE WILL COME (NOVA BOSSA)

A15. HE’S YOUR DOG, CHARLIE BROWN

B1. PEBBLE BEACH

B2. YOU’RE IN LOVE, CHARLIE BROWN (REPRISE)

B3. HE’S YOUR DOG, CHARLIE BROWN (REPRISE)

B4. MASKED MARVEL

B5. AIR MUSIC

B6. MASKED MARVEL (REPRISE) / MASKED MARVEL (2ND REPRISE) 

B7. YOU’RE IN LOVE, CHARLIE BROWN (2ND REPRISE)

B8. LINUS AND LUCY (REPRISE)

B9. OH, GOOD GRIEF! (2ND REPRISE)

B10. CHARLIE BROWN THEME (REPRISE)

B11. IT WAS A SHORT SUMMER, CHARLIE BROWN (2ND REPRISE) 

Bonus content:

B12. LINUS AND LUCY (ALTERNATE)

B13. WORKING ON “IT WAS A SHORT SUMMER, CHARLIE BROWN” 

B14. BUS BLUES (ALTERNATE)

B15. PEBBLE BEACH (ALTERNATE)

B16. MASKED MARVEL (ALTERNATE)

B17. LINUS AND LUCY (REPRISE ALTERNATE)

(Three sample tracks can be heard here.)

 

Guaraldi lovingly created the soundtrack for the summer camp adventure that finds Charlie Brown and his gang facing off against the girls’ camp members, led by Peppermint Patty. The album's large jazz combo also delivers the best rendition of Guaraldi's classic tune, “Love Will Come (Nova Bossa),” and features his first use of additional percussion supplied by Victor Feldman.

 

The recording features Guaraldi (piano), Monty Budwig (double bass), Jack Sperling (drums), Conti and Pete Candoli (trumpet), Frank Rosolino (trombone), Feldman (percussion), Herb Ellis (guitar), William Hood and Peter Christlieb (woodwinds), with John Scott Trotter as orchestra leader. The album was produced by Sean and Jason Mendelson, sons of Peanuts producer Lee Mendelson, and restored and re-mastered by Vinson Hudson.

 

The album will be available exclusively at participating retail outlets starting April 20, 2024, as part of Record Store Day. Store locations and additional information is available at recordstoreday.com.

The album's Record Store Day page is here.

 

The album includes liner notes and a track-by-track analysis by Derrick Bang and Sean Mendelson. The package also boasts images from the special, and of the recently re-discovered original tape boxes (which led to this release).  

 

For an extended version of the press release and more information, click here. 

********

Pretty cool, eh?

To anticipate the obvious question, CD and digital releases will follow later this year, and will be announced at a future date. (Stay tuned!)

Some of the adjectives in the press release above are a bit breathless, but the enthusiasm is warranted. I thoroughly enjoyed working on this project, because it's absolutely Guaraldi's jazziest and sassiest Peanuts soundtrack, thanks to the larger-than-usual combo involved (because he was simultaneously working with some of these cats on the score for the Peanuts gang's big-screen debut, in A Boy Named Charlie Brown).

This new release was made possible, in part, by the enthusiastic response — and better-than-anticipated sales figures — of last year's soundtrack debut of A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. And you know how this works: If Short Summer proves similarly successful, that'll increase the chances of additional Guaraldi treats, moving forward.

Record Store Day lines form well before opening time ... so don't oversleep on April 20th!

Pass the drumstick!

With copies of Guaraldi's score for A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving finally landing in the hands of eager fans who've literally waited — in some cases — half a century for this treasure, Sean and Jason Mendelson have been hitting the publicity trail.

Check out the following:

• Sean and Jason's impressively enthusiastic, 35-minutes October 12 visit to the Cereal at Midnight podcast;

• A brief October 13 album plug at Jazz Weekly;

• The New York Times' reader-submitted "Ultimate Fall Playlist," published October 13, with Guaraldi's "Great Pumpkin Waltz" first on the 14-track result (where it's the only instrumental);

• Sean Mendelson's lengthy, 40-minute focus on the vinyl edition, during this October 18 chat with WCB: Jazz Vinyl Collector; 

• This nifty CNN video plug, citing the album alongside new releases from the Rolling Stones and Nancy Sinatra ... a gathering of 1960s icons!

• Sean Mendelson's 25-minute interview about the album, during this November 8 Neon Jazz Interviews chat;

• The official Lee Mendelson Film Productions Inc. YouTube album playlist.

And a couple blasts from the past:

• Good Housekeepings's "50 Best Thanksgiving Songs for Your Turkey Day Playlist," updated back in November 2021, with Guaraldi's "Thanksgiving Theme" nicely slotted at No. 19; and

• Entertainment Weekly's "15 Essential Songs for Your Thanksgiving Playlist," published in November 2022. The last-place entry goes to Guaraldi's "Thanksgiving Theme." (Hey, it still made the list, right?) In both these cases, the tune now can be heard on its own soundtrack album.

Finally, for those who eschew physical media, links to four different sources that offer digital purchase/downloads of the Thanksgiving tracks. (Qobuz is a reliable seller of lossless downloads; Presto Music is known mostly as a shop for classical music, but they also offer soundtracks and jazz.)

(This isn't a definitive list, merely the most common sources.)

• Amazon (MP3) (click on "Purchase Options")

• Apple/iTunes (M4A) (may open automatically in Music app, or you may need to click the "open in Music" button)

• Qobuz (lossless download, high-res download)

• Presto Music (lossless or MP3 download)

********

Finally, a brief acknowledgment of the holiday that comes before Thanksgiving...

Folks living in or near Chicago won't want to miss the Chris White Quartet's October 29 concerts at Winter's Jazz Club. Chris has been among the most ambitious of Guaraldi's torch-bearers; in addition to a busy annual schedule of Charlie Brown Christmas-themed shows — 23 this year! — in recent years he has branched out to include Great Pumpkin and Charlie Brown Thanksgiving gigs ... along with a Latin-themed Guaraldi set in July 2022.

We love this guy!